NFL Wild Card Weekend: Five things we learnt

It’s play-off time. Even though the regular season’s over, this is the time of year that matters most in the NFL. Zander Swinburne evaluates the talking points of wild card weekend, where the number of prospective Super Bowl champions was cut from twelve to eight.

1) Panthers prove regular season record is irrelevant in the play-offs

Every year in the NFL there emerges at least one play-off underdog, a team who many expect to be booted from the competition as soon as it starts. This year’s team was undoubtedly the Carolina Panthers who seemed happy just to be playing in January having won their division with an unlikely 7-8-1 record. Nevertheless, upon realising the Panthers were headed to the play-offs, the teams Twitter account correctly Tweeted: “Everyone's record is 0-0 when the play-offs start”.

Despite an abysmal regular season, the Panthers were able to shock the NFL world by demolishing the Arizona Cardinals 27-16 and set up a divisional round game with Seattle. By beating the Cardinals, they proved the theory that the play-offs represent almost a completely new season, with every team starting on the same level.

Without getting too carried away, Carolina are still a long shot to make the Super Bowl as the road to the big game will pass through Seattle and then either Dallas or Green Bay. They were also fortunate to face an Arizona side that limped into the play-offs without a real option at quarterback. Nevertheless, the Panthers have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so a few more surprises may yet be in store for this team.

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Indianapolis Colts 33
Houston Texans 28

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San Diego Chargers 31
New York Jets 0

Philip Rivers inspired the San Diego Chargers to a 31-0 shutout of the New York Jets

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Cleveland Browns 29 Tennessee Titans 28

Travis Benjamin caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brian Hoyer to complete the Cleveland Browns' comeback against the Tennessee Titans

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Dallas Cowboys 20
Houston Texans 17

Dan Bailey kicks the game-winning for the Dallas Cowboys in their overtime win against the Houston Texans

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New York Giants 30
Atlanta Falcons 20

Odell Beckham Jr celebrates scoring the match-winning touchdown on his debut for the New York Giants

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Green Bay Packers 42
Minnesota Vikings 10

Eddie Lacy rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers routed their NFC North rivals

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Green Bay Packers 42
Minnesota Vikings 10

Defensive end Julius Peppers intercepted a pass and ran it 56 yards for a touchdown

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Kansas City Chiefs 41 New England Patriots 14

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith begins a play threw for three touchdowns

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Kansas City Chiefs 41 New England Patriots 14

On his return from injury running back Jamaal Charles scored one rushing and two catchind touchdowns

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Dallas Cowboys 38
New Orleans 17

Tony Romo looked close to his best as the Cowboys dominated the Saints in Texas

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San Francisco 49ers 26
Philadelphia Eagles 21

Frank Gore had more than 100 yards rushing and also a 55-yard touchdown catch as the 49ers narrowly beat the Eagles

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Minnesota Vikings 41
Atlanta Falcons 28

Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater rushed for two touchdowns and threw for 300 yards on his first NFL start; though he did hurt his ankle late on

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San Diego Chargers 33
Jacksonville Jaguars 14

Philip Rivers threw just shy of 400 yards and three touchdowns against the Jags

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Pittsburgh Steelers 24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27

Vincent Jackson scored a last-second touchdown for the Bucs to win their first game of the season

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Oakland Raiders 14
Miami Dolphins 38

Cortland Finnegan celebrates after recovering a fumble in the Dolphins' rout of the Raiders at Wembley

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New York Jets 17
Detroit Lions 24

Matthew Stafford celebrates a rushing touchdown - he threw two more - as the Lions won despite injury to Calvin Johnson

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Indianapolis Colts 41
Tennessee Titans 17

Andrew Luck had another huge day for the Colts with 393 yards and four touchdowns

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Houston Texans 23
Buffalo Bills 17

Defensive end JJ Watt on his way to a touchdown after intercepting EJ Manuel's pass

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Chicago Bears 17
Green Bay Packers 38

Aaron Rodgers threw more than 300 yards and four touchdowns in a massive win at Soldier Field

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Baltimore Ravens 38
Carolina Panthers 10

Steve Smith had a huge day against his former team, with two touchdowns and 139 yards

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Washington Redskins 14
New York Giants 45

Eli Manning celebrates a rushing touchdown - he threw for three more in the massive win

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Chicago Bears 27
New York Jets 19

Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery of the Chicago Bears is tackled by free safety Antonio Allen of the New York Jets

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Pittsburgh Steelers 37
Carolina Panthers 19

Leveon Bell ran more than 100 yards for the Steelers who fought back to beat Carolina

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Kansas City Chiefs 34
Miami Dolphins 15

Alex Smith threw three touchdowns as the Chiefs beat the lacklustre Dolphins, who play in London in Week Four

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Baltimore Ravens 23
Cleveland Browns 21

Justin Tucker kicked a field goal in the dying seconds for the Ravens to steal a win over their rivals

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Houston Texans 17
New York Giants 30

Rashad Jennings rushed for a career-high 176 yards in an excellent performance by the Giants

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Minnesota Vikings 9
New Orleans Saints 20

Drew Brees threw just shy of 300 yards in a routine win for the Saints

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2) Determination is Dallas’ greatest strength

Once the final play-off seeds were established, the Detroit Lions' match-up with the Dallas Cowboys was, by far, the headline act. In terms of excitement, there was plenty in Arlington as the Cowboys survived to beat the Lions 24-20 and set up a divisional round game with the Green Bay Packers.

Dallas’ performances at home have been mixed all season and from the opening kick-off it appeared they were heading down a familiar road, after they gave up two quick touchdowns. Despite a poor first-half, Dallas showed resolve in their comeback, a trait essential to any play-off team that wishes to claim a Super Bowl title.

Despite an incredibly shaky offensive line, quarterback Tony Romo was calm and collected right to the finish, delivering an eight yard touchdown pass to take the lead with less than three minutes left in the game. Too many penalties were ultimately what left Detroit with an early off-season, including one pass interference call that will no doubt be argued over for years to come in Michigan.

For Dallas however, Lambeau Field will be the next big challenge and if this team is to truly be considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender, they will need to keep that determination when they take on the Packers.

3) Flacco emerging as a top play-off player

The Steelers-Ravens rivalry is one of the NFL’s most historic and exciting. Since 1996, when football returned to Baltimore, these two teams have supplied hard hitting football at least twice a year and for the first time since 2010, NFL fans were granted a third contest of the season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, widely seen as the favourites coming into the game, finished second best to the Ravens, losing 17-30. It was the first time Baltimore had beaten Pittsburgh in the play-offs, and they achieved this feat in emphatic style. The star of the show was Joe Flacco, who was once again highly efficient in what was his 14th play-off match; so much so that head coach John Harbaugh felt the need to declare Flacco the “best quarterback in football”.

Although the franchise QB has often experienced mixed regular seasons, he is establishing himself as a top post-season player. With 22 touchdowns in 14 games and only two interceptions in his last nine post-season appearances, statistically Flacco really is one of the best when it matters.

Next week however, Flacco will have to compete with arguably the best to ever play the game when his Ravens take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The two teams will meet each other for the third time in the last four years and Flacco will need to beat the best if he is to be considered the best.

4) Cincinnati’s play-off losing streak continues

The Cincinnati Bengals appear to have one feat they seem incapable of achieving. All season long, the Bengals looked play-off bound, finishing the year with a 10-5-1 record and wins over the likes of the Denver Broncos and twice over the Ravens. Yet for the fourth straight season, the Bengals were unable to make it past the first round.

Cincinnati have now lost their fourth wild card game in five seasons, a statistic almost unheard of. It appears that no matter how well the Bengals perform in the regular season, they are destined for post-season gloom. Quarterback Andy Dalton wasn’t the main factor in Cincinnati’s loss but he certainly didn’t show anything to help silence his critics. Although no interceptions, a completion rate of just over 50 per cent gave little for his team to work with.

Both him and head coach Marvin Lewis will once again face a barrage of criticism for failing to advance. Although both their jobs are likely safe, questions will no doubt emerge as to whether it is acceptable for a team to lose the games that matter most. Having got so close once again, Cincinnati will have to start the long road back to the play-offs for a fifth time.

5) The head coach carousel is moving

As all eyes tend to be focused on the play-offs at this time of year, it seems appropriate to spare a moment for those teams no longer competing, and in particular the coaches who have been unceremoniously fired from their franchises.

As predicted last week, most of the coaches who were expected to get the boot have indeed been shipped off, but there were a few surprises. The most significant coaching move was that of Doug Marrone for the Buffalo Bills.

Despite having led the Bills to their first winning season since 2004, Marrone chose to jump ship and opt out of his contract with Buffalo after just one season. He is now the favourite to win the head coaching job for the New York Jets, who recently fired Rex Ryan after a 4-12 season. Along with GM John Idzik, Ryan was expected to be let go having missed the play-offs for a fourth year in a row. Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons was immediately fired following his teams disastrous loss to the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman was unable to save his job.

The least surprising move of the week came when San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh was shown the door. Harbaugh had reportedly been at odds with much of the organisation for some time so his departure was widely expected. With all the firings now out of the way, fans will be eagerly awaiting who will be next to lead their teams.